Additional options for fieldwork experiences
Traditionally, fieldwork includes a six-week to three-month experience with a single supervisor at one facility, often at a hospital or primary health care setting. This model is obsolete because of the increasing demand for OT services in expanding practice areas, fieldwork supervisor shortages at clinical sites, increasing numbers of students who need fieldwork placements, and a shrinking number of fieldwork placements.
List of alternative fieldwork experiences
Creating additional options for fieldwork experiences addresses these factors, allows occupational therapy to grow into broader practice areas, and provides an opportunity to expand and improve the fieldwork education component.
Fieldwork Site Alternatives
- Part-time scheduling like half days for six months
- Flexible fieldwork schedule
- Part-time OT supervisor
- Three different 4-week fieldwork rotations at one setting
- Fieldwork at multiple sites
- Fieldwork with combined experiences like psychiatric and physical dysfunction or adult and pediatrics
- One supervisor supervising more than one student
- Developing a fieldwork experience in an emerging practice area